Once Elena knew Alexander was safe and healthy, she left with Klaus and Elijah and returned to the plantation; she was sat on the sofa nursing a large glass of scotch in her hand as she processed the darkness that was temporarily within her. It hurt her, deeply and mercilessly and she almost doubted she had the light or strength to fight through it.
It took a toll on her, the first time her power had shook her this much to her core. And it was obvious, the siblings in the room felt a disconnect from her and it was unlike her.
"If they are coming tonight, we need to prepare," Klaus said in hushed tones as they all stood at the opposite end of the room around the fireplace, watching her and trying to devise a plan.
"How are we to prepare, brother?" Elijah asked, his demeanour was calm and collected but on the inside, he was the complete opposite, consumed by fear and the urge to kill every enemy within the city, "we are unaware of there next move, where they intend to attack and no means to end them."
"Elijah's right, we have to be smart about this or we could lose everything," Rebekah offered her opinion, she too was concerned about Elena and if it wasn't for the fact that their usual family anchor was indisposed, she wouldn't be able to keep it together.
"Tonight is the memorial, they'll use the celebrations afterwards to mask the ritual, I'm almost certain it's going to be loud and messy and how better to hide that behind something else that is loud and messy?" Kol spoke, each of them offering their piece to try and get it all together.
Elena could hear them talking but it sounded like a fog, like they were miles away from her but she couldn't reach them, no matter how much she wanted too; she brought the glass to her lips and took a large sip, delving further into the cracks in her mind.
"We should call the factions together, prepare them for war," Klaus stated.
"Elena is the only one that can do that, they won't listen to us," Kol argued, his finger tapping against his chin as if to help steady his thoughts.
"They should fight for her," he growled in response, his patience thinning as his anger began to grow, "she has risked her life for them, saved them, moved them back into the city and brought us all together in a time of peace."
"We will make them listen to us," Elijah placed his hand on his brothers shoulder, he too was struggling with the battle of emotions beneath his calculated and collected facade but he had to hold it together.
"None of this will matter if we can't help Elena," Rebekah responded as they all turned to look at her, she was still and distant, "she's shrouded in the darkness from the Soul Eaters, we have to pull her out of it."
"How?" Klaus asked, his brow furrowed.
"She needs us, Nik, we're her family and we love her, maybe she just needs to channel that," Rebekah looked to Elijah with an idea forming in her mind, "get Celeste's necklace and put it on her,"
She sped over to Elena and sat beside her on the sofa, Klaus and then Kol followed suit and Elijah returned with the necklace; he knelt down beside her, his perfectly collected and calculating facade was slowly cracking as he looked into her eyes and saw the darkness within her, he allowed his fingers to trail along the skin on her shoulders and her collarbone whilst he hooked the clasp and let the necklace dangle.
Her lips parted slightly and she could feel the power radiate from the necklace and though it was delayed, she felt the electricity spark through her from Elijah's touch; they each held onto her, Rebekah took her hand in hers and Kol followed suit, the love her family were projecting was surging through her body.
"Elena, if you can hear us, we love you," Rebekah said softly and rested her head on her shoulder.
Klaus' lips formed a small smile as he attempted to reach her, he caressed her cheek and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, "come home, little warrior, your family needs you."
Through the darkness and the fog in her brain, she saw the light that was her family, she felt every touch and heard every distant word and a glimmer of hope flash across her mind; with each bout of love they sent her, she used it to guide her home and that's when she felt him, his hand smoothing along her arm so delicately that it made the electricity spark all over again.
She felt his hand on the back of her head and she felt her mind invaded with images of her and Elijah, every moment of love they have spent together, every memory of her family and New Orleans, the new friends she had made and the factions that she now lead, it all came in flooding in and it woke her.
She inhaled a sharp breath and her eyes began to flicker through each one of the siblings, the darkness had vanished and she was consumed by love; her eyes lingered on Elijah for a long moment and his smile made her heart pound.
"You did it," she spoke weakly, as she looked between them all and down to the necklace that encompassed her neck; she described it as a tunnel of overwhelming and consuming darkness that shrouded her mind and the light from their love guided her through it, "you brought me back."
"Always," Elijah said and she could feel a heat rise within her, the love that they kept flowing into her was more reachable, her Empath gift was at full power and it overwhelmed her.
"I thought we'd lost you," Klaus said with a hint of sadness in his tone of voice, his relief washing over him in an instant when she held onto his hand and he placed a soft kiss on the back of it, "welcome home."
"I know we bicker like children sometimes but I'd hate to lose you, Elena, our family wouldn't be the same," Kol continued and his words brought her an instant smile as she pulled him into a quick embrace.
"I think the bickering is half the fun, you keep me on my toes," she smiled on his shoulder and he held her so tightly before releasing the doppelgänger, for the first time in his existence, he had been honest about his feelings for another and that was enough to bring the darkest of souls back.
"Elijah," she spoke softly, her eyes fixating on him as she caressed his cheek, a wave of love washed over him and he knew it was her projecting how she felt into him, "thank you for the memories."
A sudden burst of panic erupted within her as she remembered the whole reason why she had nearly been lost to a dark power, the flashes of images from the message came hurling through her mind and a small breath escaped her lips, "the Soul Eaters, I saw everything."
"What did you see?" Elijah asked softly.
She held up her barrier around them for the chance of there being spies or listening ears and she forced herself to remember more, "that's why I nearly lost it, I delved deeper into that message than I should of done and the plans they have are dark, I saw the ceremony, I was covered in blood and all I saw was his face, before he reaped my soul."
"We're not going to let that happen, Elena," Elijah said reassuringly and each of the siblings nodded in agreement.
"What exactly was the message?" Rebekah asked, her curiosity piqued and her mind firing away.
"The blood ceremony will be performed tonight, when the last beam of sunlight shines upon your skin, you will come willingly," Elena shrugged her shoulders lightly, her attention turning to the more panicked expressions and furrowed brows on the siblings, "I'd never go willingly, they're insane."
"We need to get to the compound, the memorial starts in a couple of hours and we need a plan," Klaus stated, his demeanour changed to murderous within a second.
"Elena, you must call a faction meeting, we're going to need help," She nodded her head and stood from the sofa, the barrier dropped with her and the others began to scatter about, grabbing whatever they could to aid in there fight.
"We need the Soul Eaters book, weapons and Elijah, the box that held Celeste's necklace, can I use it?" She asked as she held onto the very necklace she was referring too; He nodded his head and sped to the study, grabbing the box and returning it to her.
She took out her phone and began making calls to the witches, werewolves, Marcel and the hybrids, calling them all to the compound and making them aware of the severity of the situation.
"Let's go," and with that, Elijah grabbed her by the waist and sped her from the plantation, each of the siblings following closely behind as they headed for the compound, ready for a battle plan.